The first flag football game in Gilmer High history ended in a win for the Lady Cats.
GHS hosted Ringgold and Creekview to kick start its inaugural season last Thursday, and the game against the former came down to the wire.
The Cats and Ringgold traded the lead four times, and it was an incomplete pass as time expired that solidified the Cats’ 18-14 victory.
Against Creekview, GHS jumped ahead quickly with a defensive score. However, the Grizzlies were able to hold Gilmer’s offense in check to come out on top, 21-7.
“I am super impressed and couldn’t be happier with the girls,” said head coach Chad Miller. “Most of these girls have never played flag football before, and it was their first game ever played. We have a handful of freshmen who played in the rec league, but this was their first official GHSA varsity game. There were a lot of nerves and a learning curve, but everyone responded really well once they got past the jitters.
“In the second half, they started to come into their own, and by the second game, we didn’t look like a first-year program.”
GHS and Ringgold swapped punts to begin the game, and the Tigers cashed in on their second drive with a 32-yard touchdown run. RHS led 8-0 at the end of the first, and the Cats punted on their second possession as well after gaining a first down.
However, the Tigers’ series was short lived as Gilmer’s Carissa McCollum intercepted a first down pass. GHS took over at the Tigers’ 27, and quarterback Mattie Jones then got the offense in rhythm with short passes to Abby Murillo.
GHS reached paydirt on Jones’ 19-yard touchdown pass to Gimena Domingo-Tercero. The conversion failed, and Ringgold’s ensuing drive ended on downs.
GHS took over at the Tigers’ 33 with only five seconds left in the half, and with one pass, Jones went deep. Gilmer’s Jesse Wheeler got behind the secondary for a touchdown grab with no time on the clock.
GHS took a 12-8 lead into the half and neither team scored in the third. Ringgold pulled ahead on a 37-yard drive that ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass.
Gilmer trailed 14-12 with seven minutes left in the game. It took GHS five minutes to score, and the 66-yard series resulted in six points with a pass to Domingo-Tercero. She weaved her way in and out of defenders for a 16-yard touchdown.
Down 18-14, RHS moved down the field. On the eighth play of the drive, a 15-yard pass into the end zone could not be corralled by a Tiger receiver as time expired.
“I feel like we played better in the second game,” said Miller. “The first game, we had a lot of jitters with it being the first time, and it took the girls a little time to get settled in and start playing. Creekview is a very experienced team, a much bigger school and have been playing for a few years. I thought we really held our own.”
GHS struck early when Domingo-Tercero intercepted the Grizzlies’ first pass of the game and returned it for a 20-yard touchdown. Following the one-point conversion, the Cats were ahead, 7-0.
Creekview scored all of its points in the second quarter. The Grizzlies overcame multiple fourth down situations to keep the drive alive before scoring. The second touchdown was on a highly contested pass in the end zone, and blown coverage led to Creekview’s third score.
“I think we looked a lot more comfortable and seasoned out there than we did after the first game,” Miller noted.
GHS returns to Huff-Mosley Memorial Stadium Thursday and will take on Fannin County at 5:30 p.m. and Dalton Academy at 8 p.m.